A Berrien County Swift and Sure coordinator is scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. Nov. 4 on multiple charges relating to an alleged relationship with a probationer.
According to Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic, Jessica Holmes, 35, of Eau Claire allegedly developed a relationship with a probationer following the courthouse shooting in St. Joseph on July 11. Sepic said both Holmes and the probationer were in the courthouse on the day of the shooting.
Holmes is charged with delivery of a controlled substance, a 20-year maximum; criminal sexual conduct in the second degree, a 15-year maximum; and obstruction of justice, a five-year maximum.
The charges stem from a number of allegations, including that Holmes delivered a drug, Norco, to the probationer for him to sell on her behalf; that she had a sexual relationship with him, which is prohibited due to her employment with the county while he was a probationer; and that she provided him with confidential scheduling information by which he was to be drug and alcohol tested for the Swift and Sure program.
Swift and Sure is a state-funded probation option for felons that gives the defendants a second chance to succeed on a local probation term. Holmes has worked with the court for 16 years and was recently promoted to the program coordinator position and was managing Swift and Sure probationers.
Sepic said it appears some Berrien County Trial judges are disqualifying themselves from the case, but Holmes is scheduled to be tried in Berrien County Trial Court.